Finish, Failure, or Fandom
I was very grateful that Bryan Greenwood was prompted by God to come and release a message of identity to our Beloved Family. Afterward, when we were all conversing about what the Lord had done over the years with our church, and also the good plans that we all recognize are coming to fruition, there was a tangible awareness of the awe and grace of God among us all. The Greenwood family has been near our journey for all eleven years, so their perspective is of great value. I pray that you recognize the divine exhortation from the message as to the high importance that is necessary for the remnant and authentic believers to grasp as we move into the next phase of this Great Awakening journey.
A true revelation of identity will be the difference between crossing the finish line, collapsing on the journey, or just sitting as an entertained crowd paying to watch the show. Finish, failure, or fandom.
The allegory I am alluding to is of a marathon. These are very unique among all of the athletic events for multiple reasons. Firstly, it takes massive amounts of preparation time, training, and discipline. The experts say that it should take half of a year, up to a whole year, to prepare your body and mind for the aggressive goal. The rigorous type and amount of discipline to prepare AND to run is usually more than most are willing to expend. Anyone can walk a 5K “fun run,” but only a serious participant can successfully finish a marathon.
Secondly, it is simply a goal that only a small minority of people even embrace. Because of the preparation challenges, the time forfeiture for training, the mental costs associated with the grueling endeavor, and the actual monetary sacrifices, it is a statistically rare thing for the average person to pursue. Many times, there are ulterior reasons for obtaining this unique goal that can vary from personal achievement to life-and-death necessities, like a person battling cancer who uses the marathon as a motivating weapon.
Additionally, there are even fewer people who actually run to win. I know this may seem a bit odd, but the vast majority of participants are running to run… or for personal reasons. They run against themselves as a personal goal. One of the biggest reasons is just for the fulfillment of doing it. If you do an online search for, “why,” folks do marathons, this reason will inevitably arise.
When you factor all of these things, you should rightfully conclude that there are high percentages of people who have not run one, will not run one, or likely will not finish one. So, to be a person who has run and finished one, regardless of rank, is a sizeable achievement in itself. I bring this up because it is now common in our society for folks to live without goals to achieve, and the rare ones who have goals likely have obtained them from a source other than their Creator.
You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs.
Leviticus 18:3 BSB
In the vast conversation of identity, we cannot ignore the human propensity to just fit in with the masses.
- Running a marathon is expensive, painful, and stupid… why would anyone do that?
- Living righteous in an unrighteous world will make you an outcast.
- Believing in a Godly worldview is old-fashioned and antiquated.
- Doing hard things is… hard.
- Dressing, talking, and behaving like the majority will make you much more popular.
- It’s just one drink… it’s just a little nudity… it’s just easier to keep your mouth shut… it’s just a few trafficked children… it’s just a few hundred dollars for that hobby… and the list goes on and on.
This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by the signs in the heavens, though the nations themselves are terrified by them.”
Jeremiah 10:2 BSB
If we have our souls attached to what our neighbors have their souls attached to, we will be destroyed by what destroys them. We will fear what they fear and serve what they serve. We will look at the news as our great horoscope sign, the, “signs in the heavens,” and purpose or direct our lives after their prophecy.
Jeremiah 23:21 BSB
I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.
Jeremiah 23:25 BSB
I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’
Have you noticed how often and easy it is nowadays for someone to pop off with the statement, “Let me tell you what God told me…”? Maybe it is just me, but this has grown to a near-epidemic level. These statements are usually followed up with spiritually-justified reasons why that person is not accomplishing the sacred identity they were divinely created to live. They are excuses for the victimization of their current circumstances that permit a substandard and inferior life. They are the crowd in the bleachers watching the marathoners cross the accomplishment line. Some of them may even lie to themselves with an internal statement like, “I could do that if I wanted to… I just don’t wanna.” Even worse, “God told me to sit in this crowd.”
We are called to be a different kind of people, with a much different identity.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
1 Peter 2:9-11 BSB
Notice, we ARE – this is Identity!
- A chosen people. Chosen by GOD… Remember how it felt when you were on the playground and nobody wanted you on their team because you stunk? God has a team and PICKED YOU FIRST!
- Royal. The best of the best, the highest of human lineage, born to rule and reign!
- Priesthood. You are specifically called to live a separated life to serve and minister to the Most High God, a function that was of great envy among awakened humanity.
- A holy nation. We have our own government, culture, society, and ethnicity… all of these as gifts from our Heavenly Father to make us fit the sacred space He has ordained for us to occupy.
- A people for God’s own possession. We are HIS… we are NOT alone, NOT orphaned, NOT average, NOT worthless.
These Identity truths then lead us to the, “DO,” of our divine destiny, “to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you.” The actions come from nature. The do comes from the be. The what comes from the who. Our soul should operate from who our spirit is, and our spirit is Christ.
But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:17 BSB
You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Romans 8:9 BSB
This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
1 John 4:17 NIV
Notice back in 1 Peter 2:11 that our Father is talking to the Beloved and tells us about the war for our soul that rages through the natural world. The way we win that soul-war is to live as, “foreigners and exiles.” How cool is that! God literally uses the thing that most people avoid and detest (being alienated from the mass culture) as the very weapon that gives us the prosperity of our soul for victory. This is how we win the battle for identity… be a cultural alien!
Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”
John 8:23 BSB
This is how Jesus talked, this is how we should talk. This was Jesus’ identity, therefore it is ours as well.
We are not fans or failures, we are more than conquerors! Remember where you come from and who you really are, Beloved.
In passionate love,
Steve
